Archbishop condemns ‘cruelty’ of government handling of refugees and migrants

‘It is not a solution – it is a mistake,’ Justin Welby told peers

The Archbishop of Canterbury has delivered a scathing condemnation of the government’s “immoral” and “cruel” treatment of migrants and asylum seekers.

In a speech to the House of Lords, Justin Welby said that the principle of offering protection to refugees has been “politically degraded” by successive UK governments.

He condemned the government’s policy of making life difficult for unauthorised arrivals, saying: “A hostile environment is an immoral environment.”

He also denounced home secretary Suella Braverman’s plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, telling peers: “It is not a solution – it is a mistake. It will be a failure.”

The Archbishop condemned the £120m Rwanda plan in his Easter sermon in April as “the opposite of the nature of God”, and later led the Church of England in a joint letter calling for it to be scrapped.

In Friday’s speech, he warned that in the government’s approach to migrants “control has become cruelty”.

He offered stinging criticism of Ms Braverman and prime minister Rishi Sunak as he warned against “harmful rhetoric” that treats those arriving in the UK as “invaders”.

Mr Welby said: “When migrants arrive here, our system is grossly wasteful – in both human and financial terms. Control has become cruelty. Staggering inefficiencies by successive governments trap people in limbo – at incredible expense – in the system for years, unable to build a life or to contribute to society.”

The Archbishop said it was impossible to separate the Rwanda plan, devised by former home secretary Priti Patel but currently stalled by legal challenges, from “moral arguments”.

“In my sermon on Easter Sunday, I gave my view on this, and shortly after, every one of my colleagues on these benches issued a statement concluding that this was ‘an immoral policy that shames Britain’,” he said.

“I stand by those views. The government has said the Rwanda policy aims to deter people arriving in the UK through ‘illegal, dangerous or unnecessary methods’.

“There is little or no evidence that this deterrence or the hostile environment really works. The government’s own impact assessments say so … Outsourcing our share creates more opportunities for people smugglers to operate in and around Rwanda”

Mr Welby said there had been a “decades-long downward slide” in the handling of migration by successive administrations.

“When we fail to challenge the harmful rhetoric that refugees are the cause of this country’s ills, that they should be treated as problems not people, invaders to be tackled and deterred, we deny the essential value and dignity of our fellow human beings,” he said.

The Archbishop’s comments came amid reports that the government plans to fast-track the removal of asylum seekers from designated “safe” countries, a list that would include Albania.

On Thursday, Ms Braverman joined interior ministers from France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands at a meeting of the so-called “Calais group” of neighbouring countries to discuss efforts to crack down on Channel crossings and bring people smugglers to justice.

But the Archbishop argued that it is “absurd” to expect orderly migration and prevent queue-jumping when there is “no legal queue” for asylum seekers who do not come from Ukraine, Afghanistan, Hong Kong or Syria.

He also said it was “disgraceful” that people fleeing Afghanistan or Syria are having to wait so long to be processed.

He called for the creation of safe and legal routes for people to seek sanctuary in the UK, as well as the expansion of family reunion and community sponsorship schemes and humanitarian visas from a greater number of countries.c

A government spokesperson said: “The UK has a proud history of supporting those in need of protection. Our resettlement programmes have provided safe and legal routes to better futures for hundreds of thousands of people from across the globe.

“However, the world is facing a global migration crisis on an unprecedented scale, and change is needed to prevent vile people-smugglers putting people’s lives at risk and to fix the broken global asylum system.

“Rwanda is a fundamentally safe and secure country with a track record of supporting asylum seekers.”